Window shades are devices that are placed on the internal dashboard of the windshield. Window shades are primarily used to cover a windshield to block the sunlight. By blocking the sunlight, the window shades help to protect the interior of the vehicle from damage due to exposure to sunlight. Blocking the sunlight may further help to reduce the interior temperature of the vehicle. This may be important especially is desert areas where the temperature may reach 110° F. or more.
There are also window shades that may be placed on the exterior of the windshield. Exterior window shades are generally designed to prevent frost, snow and ice from building up on the windshield during cold periods or in a cold climate. The covering of the windshield in a cold climate helps to alleviate some of the scraping, cleaning and deicing that may be necessary if the windshield was left open to the environment. Exterior window shades may also be used in a similar manner to internal window shades to block the sunlight from entering the interior of the vehicle thereby protecting the interior of the vehicle from damage due to exposure to sunlight.
While exterior window shades do work to prevent frost, snow and ice from building up on the windshield during cold periods or in a cold climate, as well as, to block the sunlight from entering the interior of the vehicle to protect the interior of the vehicle from damage due to exposure to sunlight, they have several problems. First, most external window shades cannot be secured to the vehicle. Thus, most external window shades may blow away during stormy conditions or be removed by vandals, pranksters, thieves and/or likeminded individuals. Further, current exterior window shades do not have any way to easily pick-up and store the window shade. It would thus be desirable to provide an exterior window shade that addresses the aforementioned shortcomings of existing devices.